ECE/CoE 1896 Senior Design Project · • Multiple Oral Presentations (PPT Slides) • Final Report (Paper) 2. Poster presentation at Fall 2015 Senior Design Expo • Week of December

ECE/CoE 1896Senior Design Project

Introduction – Fall 2015Prof. Steven Levitan

(Prof. Jacobs)

ECE/CoE 1896 – Senior Design

The Senior Design ProjectThe project is a CAPSTONE requirement because it allows you to apply the analytical and synthesis skills you have developed during your undergraduate coursework and appreciate how different areas of the curriculum relate to each other.

It involves:• Identification and analysis of a real problem• Design of a hardware or software solution• Construction of the solution

It should be done as a team of 3‐4 students

It can be multiple terms


Sources of Project Ideas

• You!• Faculty ‐ often associated with research activities• Jobs or Co‐op• Company Contacts

Remember that each group needs to find a faculty advisor for the project.

Grading: 50% from advisor (final paper and poster)50% from me (proposal, design specification, oral presentation, peer review, participation)


Research Interests of ECE Faculty• Murat Akcakaya: radar, biologically inspired sensing, EEG-based BCI• Kevin Chen: planar lightwave circuits, optical integration, photonic structures• Yiran Chen: Nano-electronics, low-power computing, emerging memory technologies• Amro El-Jaroudi: filtering, communications, speech processing • Mahmoud El Nokali: power electronics, IGBT circuit design • Steve Jacobs: communications, signal processing, radar • Alex Jones: electronic design automation, HDL compilers, SoC design • Irvin R. Jones Jr.: embedded applications, reconfigurable architectures, evolutionary algorithms• Hong-Koo Kim: photonics, opto-electronics, erbium-doped oxides, self-organized nanostructures• George Kusic: control of power systems and machinery , space power systems• Alexis Kwasinski: Power electronics, energy security, resilient power systems, microgrids• Steve Levitan: CAD for VLSI, optical mechanical electrical micro-systems , and optoelectronics• Ching-Chung Li: biomedical pattern recognition and image processing • Guangyong Li: nanorobotics, manipulating nanomaterials to study cell membrane proteins• Hai (Helen) Li: Neuromorphic architectures, memory circuits, nano-electronic devices• Zhi-Hong Mao: control; neural signals; robotics; multi-agent systems • Thomas E. McDermott: power distribution, renewable integration, simulation, state estimation• Kartik Mohanram: design for circuits, computers, nanoelectronics and biology• Gregory Reed: power T&D and energy systems; power electronics and control • Ervin Sejdic: biomedical signal processing, anticipatory medical devices, assistive technologies• William Stanchina: high-frequency semi-conductor devices, optoelectronic and quantum devices• Mingui Sun: signal, image, and video processing, sensors and devices for biomedical applications• Jun Yang: Power and thermal-aware microarchitectures, secure architecture, network processors• Minhee Yun: nanowires and nanoparticles, chemical and biosensors, low-dimensional materials


What You Should Gain From Senior Design

• How to define a problem • Experience in teamwork • Prototyping skills• Project scheduling and budgeting experience• Exposure to real workplace problems

(Controlled, we hope)• A working prototype of your design• A conversation starter for job interviews


Senior Project Requirements 1. Written and oral (in‐class) reports

• Written Proposal including:– Description of Problem, Background, Proposed Solution– Week‐by‐Week Schedule and Milestones– Materials and Resources Required, Budget

• Design Specification (Paper)• Multiple Oral Presentations (PPT Slides)• Final Report (Paper)

2. Poster presentation at Fall 2015 Senior Design Expo • Week of December 7‐11: specific date, time and location TBA• Posters will be printed out by the ECE Department. • Faculty members and visitors will review posters

3. Regular meetings with advisor and with the class• Be prepared to give a report every Monday.


What Makes a Senior Design Project?

Not every project is appropriate for senior design.You may have a good idea for an interesting, usefuland challenging project, and it may or may not beappropriate for this course. Design projects mustsatisfy several criteria that are not required of othertypes of projects, such as:

• Undergraduate research projects• Independent study projects



• You must design something– Product, system, process– Hardware, software, both– Design criteria: objective and measurable– IT HAS TO WORK!– Experiments, testing & results– Contrast to research: failure acceptable if therewas significant progress



• You must design something• Objective design criteria

– Measurable parameters: power, time, successrate, accuracy, usage, position, speed, etc.

– Goals to meet: can be revised– Work with advisor: reasonable– Devise experiments, make measurements– Collect results, compare to criteria



• You must design something• Objective design criteria• Must be non‐trivial

– Address realistic problem or need– Novel solution, not widely available– Improve existing solution– Use new materials, apply different principles


Minimum Standard for Completion

• Minimum level of success for the project tobe considered “complete”

• Agreement: you and advisor• Revise until week 7• Be conservative!• Fail to meet→ Grade = F or G


Minimum Standard for Completion

• Negative results are ok!– “Our design did not perform as well as systemX that was already available”

– “Our goal was a 95% success rate, but we onlyachieved 65% success”

• Complete failure is not ok!• Minimum goals: include in this standard• Stretch goals: include elsewhere


Senior Project Requirements LEVITAN IS OUT OF TOWN THIS WEEK

1. Exchange Email with him ([email protected]) if you have any questions or problems.

2. Set up appointment to meet with him Next Week (Sept 8‐11) Wednesday (9/9) is best day.

3. Converge on project As Soon As Possible:• Title, list of team members, Faculty Advisor• Two paragraphs summarizing your project idea


Senior Project Requirements WEEK 2

1. Due 4:00 p.m., Friday, September 11: Project Announcement• Title, list of team members, Faculty Advisor• Two paragraphs summarizing your project idea• Submit electronically to http://www.turnitin.com

class ID: 10388695 password: ece/coe1896f

2. Begin working on Written Proposal and Presentations• Include all sections:

– Description of problem, background, proposed solution– Week‐by‐week schedule and milestones– Materials and resources required, budget

• All team members must participate



1. Monday Sept 14th (2nd) Class meeting 1‐3pm• Coordinate with team members and discuss ideas in

class. Address any problems with team and Levitan2. Due 4:00 p.m., Wed, Sept. 16: Pre‐Proposal

• Title, list of team members, Faculty Advisor• One‐page summary of problem and possible solutions• Week‐by‐week schedule and milestones• Materials and resources required, budget• Library research plan including five hard copy (non‐web)

references• Submit electronically to turnitin.com



• Monday Sept 21 In class presentations on projects

• 5 slides per group: 7 minutes strictly enforced

1. Title, team members, faculty advisor2. Problem statement 3. Solution approach4. Required resources5. Definition of completion and milestones with dates



• Wed, Sept 23: Pre Proposal Peer Review• You will be assigned two pre‐proposals to review• Access through turnitin.com• Answer 7 questions

– Is the problem relevant, sufficiently challenging?– Did the team consider multiple solutions? Is the selected solution a

good choice?– Is the schedule reasonable? Is there a division of labor and

responsibilities among team members?– Did the team consider all required materials? Is the budget clear and

accurate?– Has the team obtained useful, authoritative references?– Did the presentation give a good overview of the project?– Give this pre‐proposal a score out of 15 points.



• Due 1:00 p.m., Monday, Sept. 28: Written Proposal• Executive Summary (1 page maximum)• Specific Aims (1 page maximum) • Background (2 pages)• Preliminary Work / Design Possibilities (3‐4 pages)• Selected Design Approach (1 page)• Milestones and Schedule (1‐2 pages)• Materials and resources required, budget (1 page)• Expected problems, possible approaches (1 page)• References (minimum 5)• Submit Hardcopy in class and Electronically to both

courseweb.pitt.edu and turnitin.com



• Due 4:00 p.m., Friday, October 1: Proposal Evaluations

• Answer:– Is the problem relevant?– Is the approach technically sound?– Has the team identified the resources, including people, to complete the tasks?

– Is the schedule reasonable?– Is the definition of success clear and achievable?– 15 points for total

• turnitin.com


Senior Project Requirements Grading for Project Proposals

Item Evaluator WeightAnnouncement Instructor 10%Pre‐Proposal Instructor 10%Proposal Presentation Instructor 20%Pre‐Proposal & Presentation Peers 15%Peer‐Review Comments Instructor 5%Written Proposal Instructor 20%Written Proposal Peers 15%Peer‐Review Comments Instructor 5%


Choosing a Project• Is the problem challenging enough to require 3‐4ECE students? Does it fill a real need?

• Is the solution available commercially? Can I by itat Target?

• Can the solution be implemented by your team inone semester?

• Is there an advisor in ECE (or another appropriatedepartment or organization) that can providetechnical expertise?

• Is the cost prohibitive? Can the materials beobtained immediately?


Teams• Teams should not be homogeneous

– Analytical / Experimental / Prototyping Skills– Hardware / Software– Planning / Budgeting

• Teams always have a leader– It may move around

• All team members must contribute• Teaming skills are not trivial

– Failure to communicate is unacceptable

• The grade is usually a group grade – Unless participation is lopsided


Funding• There will be limited funding available through the ECE

Department ($200‐$300 per project).

• All groups must include a budget in their proposals: a list ofthe equipment or supplies needed, a justification of why itis needed, who the vender should be, and the cost for eachitem.

• Groups will not be allowed to place orders for equipmentbeyond the requested budget.

• The equipment or supplies will remain the property of theECE Department at the conclusion of the project.

Documents

ECE/CoE 1896 Senior Design Project · • Multiple Oral Presentations (PPT Slides) • Final Report (Paper) 2. Poster presentation at Fall 2015 Senior Design Expo • Week of December